Melville street condo in Dock Area of NOTL passes first step of approvals

Niagara-on-the-Lake staff say a three-storey, 12-unit apartment building on Melville Street will fit nicely on Melville Street and in the Dock Area neighbourhood.

Not all nearby residents agree.

Approval to zoning bylaw and Official Plan amendments was given by councillors sitting as the planning committee Tuesday night, but that will need to be forwarded to the council meeting for adoption later this month.

The residential building is replacing a two-storey hotel.

Several concerns were raised earlier this year by residents during an open house and public meeting, which director of community and development services Kirsten McCauley said Tuesday will be addressed during the next step — the site plan process.  

Those issues included snow removal, shadow impacts, a perceived lack of landscaping, lighting and traffic.  

Shadows and questions surrounding whether the units will be offered as short-term rentals are two issues Coun. Wendy Cheropita says she has “kept hearing from residents who live close by.”  

McCauley responded that shadows and how they might impact others in the area will be one of the issues considered as part of the site plan process, and said that if the zoning change is granted, short-term rentals would not be permitted under the zoning which is proposed.  

The property is located on the west side of Melville Street, south side of Lockhart Street and north side of Delatre Street, within the urban area of the Old Town.   

Nearby are a three-storey townhouse building along Melville Street, Lockhart Street and River Beach Drive, the three-storey Harbour House Hotel, the marina and some older homes.

The staff report says the apartment building is compatible with its surroundings.

McCauley agreed with that during Tuesday’s meeting, saying the proposed development is “generally the same height as the surrounding buildings.”  

In its report, staff say the proposal would provide additional housing options and contribute to the town’s intensification target within the built-up area.  

Dock Area resident Barbara Worthy reached out to councillors before the Tuesday meeting, asking why “well-considered municipal regulations are being overturned for this project? Every rule is being broken, as far as I can tell. So why do we have them?”

Residents’ concerns have been brought forward but not considered.

“Im not sure how this is ‘compatible with the surrounding neighbourhood,’ with heritage buildings that were laid out more than 150 years ago — with very different considerations in place,” she said in a letter to councillors.

“I’m just curious as to how we justify the effort and good intentions of residents to understand the process and make well thought out suggestions, if developers are allowed to usurp all the rules.”

Coun. Gary Burroughs said residents have been “very involved right from the beginning” with this project, and requested at the meeting that an information report come to council about the site plan process and how it is moving along, to which staff agreed.  

The staff report says stage one and two archaeological assessments were submitted with the applications, which concluded that further investigation is warranted through at least a stage three archaeological assessment.  

This is required prior to any site alteration occurring on the property, said staff.  

To ensure those documents are provided prior to development on the site, a holding provision has been included in the amending zoning bylaw, to be removed upon receipt of all the required documents, the report says.